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Brooklyn 99is one of the finest pieces of work to have ever come out of television, and that’s a fact that many have found hard to debate. Not only did it perfectly deliver all the laughs at just the right moments, but it even earned such a special place in fans’ hearts and continues to hold it, even years after it stopped airing.
That said, while the rest of the series holds a charm of its own, there’s one particular and especially undisputed greatest scene of the entire show that almost never happened. But as iconic and fan-favorite as that one scene went on to become, it almost didn’t come into existence beforeThe Backstreet Boyscame to the rescue.
Brooklyn 99‘s most goated scene almost never happened
Of all the thingsBrooklyn 99is famous for, one thing stands out rather exceptionally: WhenAndy Samberg‘s Detective Jake Peralta had to find the killer from a bunch of perpetrators just from their voice as the victim recognized him to be singing the smash hit track ‘I Want It That Way’ fromThe Backstreet Boys.
Thus, Jake asks all five of them to sing one line of the banger song and ends up singing along and jamming with them as he excitedly remarks, “Ah, chills. Literal chills.” In fact, only when the victim hilariously points out that the no. 5 perpetrator was the one who “killed my brother” is when Jake remembers, “Oh my god, I forgot about that part.”
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As comical as this scene was, it has gone down as one of the finest moments in television history, being regarded as the most goated scene of the series. But as epic and fan-favorite as this scene went on to become,it never came to be, for the original pitch for the same was a lot different in terms of the song than what fans ended up getting.
Talking toGQ, Luke Del Tredici, the executive producer of the masterpiece, shared what initially went down, saying,
I had an idea of Jake trying to make a bunch of the perps sing a song for him. I think I originally pitched it as a Disney song, which would never have cleared. I believe my first pitch was “The Daughters of Triton,” the song from the animated Little Mermaid.
Needless to say, had they gone forward withThe Daughters of Triton, that scene would have looked more like a cringe remake of a Disney song than the iconic jam ofI Want It That Waythat it was. But that’s exactly whenThe Backstreet Boyscame to the rescue as someone suggested their hit track and everything changed for the better.
HowThe Backstreet Boyscame to the rescue to save the epic scene
As Del Tredici continued to share, “Somebody—I really wish I knew who — someone else I know pitched the Backstreet Boys song.” But irrespective of whoever did it, their suggestiontotally saved the day– and the episode. Plus, what’s even more surprising is that they were actually expecting themselves not to be allowed it despite them having “so fun as we were writing it.”
Justin Noble, co-producer, explained the same, saying, “My attitude was, ‘There is no way in hell that we will get to do this.’ The idea of getting a network in the US to pay for a song on a network comedy is unheard of. They were so cheap about that—hilariously so.” This was simply because the studios usually try to use the song they already own the rights to.
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What made it even better was how the scene was designed. As executive producer Del Tredici went on to explain: “Andrew Guest pitched the moment when Andy sings, ‘Now number fi-ive.’ Phil Jackson pitched the blow to the whole thing—where we hold off the information that it’s about a murder and Andy forgot about that.”
All in all, from the pitch to the design to the way it was filmed to be brought down to the screens, everything about that one particular scene was so top-notch and iconic that it didn’t take long for it to be known as the undisputed, greatest scene of the series to ever be. And, rightly so, for there are very few moments that have managed to rebel the same.
Brooklyn 99can currently be streamed onNetflix.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
